i l i
the iCsscltoe has been stipposed to nom-ish the emhiyo dm-ing the fest stage of gemination ; ivhich may he the case ;
though from Myzodeninn requiring no such adventitious assistance, it is more probable that it sen-es in hoth merely
as a means of attaching the seed to the plant it attacks. In most, or perhaps all LormitMceoe, germhmtion is
contmued up to a considerable period, before the albumen and pericaip are detached from tho embiyo I have not
seen its exsertion in tins species, which takes place, probably, as in U. bmchjstachyum, through the apex of the
pericarp, and not throngh a lateral fissm-e. In many plants of the order, there is a special provision for this ; for
instance, in Tupeia, where the upper extremity of the endocarp is open, and where the nerves of the pericarp do not
anastomose above; and in EubracJiimi, where there is a simüai- foramen, opening into a cavity fidl of a viscid fluid,
whence it seems likely that the radiculai- extremity in these two genera may cai-ry out along with it some of this
nscid matter, the better to secure its adhesion to a particular spot. Lastly, I shall allude to the cellidar tissue of
the radiculai- extremity of M. Irachystacliyum being fomed of viscid elongated utricles, which I cannot distinguish
from those composing the gluten of the sareocaip of o t \ a LorantMceæ, and woidd hence suggest that we have in one
species of this genus, where no medium exists in the sarcocarp for attaching the radicle to the hark, a perfectly
similar substance supplied by tbe radicle itself.
Ifr. Brown, in his paper on Xaßesia in the 19th volume oí the Linnean Iransactiom so often alluded to,
substitutes the original name of Myzodendron, given by Banks and Solander, for that of Misodendnm, which
was probably inadvertently adopted by De Candolle. The latter author has also mistaken Staten Land in Fuegia, for
Staten Island m the United States, and hence considered this to he a native of North as well as South America.
The yeUow hue oi Myzodendron punctulaium renders it a conspicuous object, even from a considerable distance.
I t may be recognized, when coasting along the shores of Fnegia, from its contrasting so strongly w-ith the otherwise
lurid colom- of the dusky forests. I t gi-ows indifferently upon the evergreen or deeiduons-leaved Beech.
PL.1TE CII. An entire male plant of M. punetulatum, aud a portion of a female plant with ripe frnit :—both
of tbe natural size.
P l a t e CIV. My. 1. portion of teminal ramulus with one of the upper neuter amenta or leaf-huds ; fiy. 2, a male
amentmn or flower-bearing ramulus ; fig. 3, a scale from the same, containing a male flower ; fig. 4, male flower,
vnth Its pedicel, removed ; yfy. 5. vertical section of an anther and sessüe gland, shewing the epidermis of stout cells
the pnsmatic cells Hning the loculus, the poUen, and compressed columella ; fig. 6. a transverse section of the same ■
fig. 7, a portion o fth e waHs of the anther; fig. 8, pollen, one grain immature, with a triangular nucleus ; fig. 9,
female amentum (fi-om Mr. Bridges' Valdivian specimen); fig. 10 , an ovarium, taken from the same ; fig .W vertical
section ofthe same, shewing the young setæ lodged in the slits ofthe pericarp, the central fi-ee column and tliree
ovules ; fig. 12. column and ovules removed ; fig. IS . female amentum, with ripe achenia ; fig. 14 and 16, front and
back view of npe achemum, exhibiting the attachment of the three calyeine pieces forming the epicarp, and the three
setæ, lodged in the spaces between their contiguous margins and the endocarp ; fig. 16. transverse section of an
achemum shewing the albumen of the seed cut across, and the eolmnn forced to one side ; fig. 17, vertical section of
the same, shelving the column reduced to a filament, hearing two unimpregnated ovules and a ripe seed at its apex -
fig. 18, column, nmmpregnated ovules and ripe seed ; fly. 19, vertical section of seed not fuUy ripe, shewin- the albumen,
formed of utricles, each with a nucleus, the sac (its waUs are represented of too great density) continuous with
the fumculus covei-mg the embiyo and passing between the latter and the albumen ; fig. 20, embryo, removed from a
npe seed, havmg the upper cellular portion of its investing sac placed above it ; / y . 2 1 , vertical section of the embryo
sbew-ing the cellnlar, upper, or radicular extremity, the firmer cotylcdonary portion, sending a conical projection
into the ceUular portion, and the fistulöse consoHdated cotyledons aU moro or less highly magnified.
P l a t e CVII. Eig. 7, section of a middle-aged specimen of M. punetulatum, shewing its union with the Beech
which m this instance is exceedingly close ; fig. 8. horizontal slice of a first year’s ramulus of the same ; immediately
beneath the stnated cuticle is a row of ceUs, the first of them forming the epiphlomm, within these are cavities
corresponding to the tubercles on the stem, the whole tissue between these and the letter c, is the bark, traversed
at letter a by the fibrous tissue of tbe liber; the letter c points to the scalariform tissue, deposited in tnan-
gidai- wedges of a pale colour and the dark triaiigiilar mark beyond it is the alhiu-num : the letter h indicates the
axis of the stem, here fonned of woody fibres, with no medulla or scalariform tissue intermi.xed ; f g . 9, a vertical
section of the same, the letters corresponding ; fig. 10 , more highly magnified view of a portion of the axis (4), the
scalariform tissue (e). and the cellnlar tissue of the fiber ; all the above, exceptyfy. 7, are very highly magnified.
P late CVII. 4is, Eig. 1, mode ot branching of M.punetulatum, of the natural size; a, newly formed ramuli,
b, flowei-ing amenta about to fall away ; e. apex of the stem; fig. 2, portion of the stem showing the position of the
stomata ; fig. 8 , stoma ; fig. 4. the same viewed from the cavity it corresponds to ; / y . S, transverse section of cavity
and stoma, tho portion above the diaphragm filled with an opaque substance ; fig. 6, another stoma with its aperture
unobstructed; all highly magnified.
P late CVII. 1er, Eig. 8, section of a branch in the first yeai- of its grow-th, shewing (4) the vessels ofthe
liber; c, the albni-niim; d, the plem-enchyma deposited in the axis ;fig. 9, portion of a section of the stem fr-om a branch
thi-ee years old ; a, the cuticle ; 4. the epiphloeum ; c, mesophloeum ; d, vessels of the fiber ; e, albui-num ; / , layers
of wood; y, 1-ays ot pleurenchyma ; fi, pleurenchj-nia deposited in the axis of the plant ; / y . 10 , pleurenchyma
spfi-aUy marked and scalarifoi-m vessels from the same; / y . 1 1 . longitudinal section of tubes of pleurenchj-ma from
the axis ; fig. 12 . portion of very old wood ;—all veiy highly magnified.
Subgen. I I . Eumyzodendion; rami foliosi; bracteæ nuUæ; flores racemosi v. secus ramos solitarii
bini quaternive^ stamina 3.
.2. M yzodendron Imch jsta ch jum, DC. ; ramis teretibus lævibus, ramulis griseo-puberulis, foliis
anguste oblongis lineari-oblongisve subenervibus, floribus in racemos axillares basi folio suffultis dispositis
masculis triandi-is setis plumosis pericarpio 6-tuplo longioribus. M. bracliystacbyum, J)C. Coll. Mém. YI.
1 .13. f. 1. P r o li’, voi. iv. p. 286. M. planifolium, Banks et Sol. M S S . in Bih l. Bank s, cum icone.
H a b . South Cliili and Tierra del Duego; Bank s and Solander and all succeeding voyagers.
Suff/mtex ramosus, bipedalis, ramulis junioribus tautum foliosis. Caulis brevis, basi dilatatus, alterne patentim
ramosus. Rami divai-icati, teretes, articulati, ad nodos vaginati et paulo constricti, internodiis unciahbus crassitie
pennæ olorinæ ; cortice lævi, fusco-bruuneo, gi-iseo-punctulato, punctis rimosis, hic illic e lapsu ramulorum florentìum
cicatricato ; vaginis bilabiatis. PoUa caulina in ramulis propriis demum elongatis disposita, subfasciculata, plana,
obtusa V. subacuta, nervis 3-6 valde obscuris percursa, Imùde \dridia, uti*inque stomatibus plm-imis instructa.
Infiorescentia ramulis foliosis post anthesin deciduis disposita, racemosa. Racemi basi folio obovato obtuso apice
piloso suffuiti, breves, densiflori ; floribus breviter pedicellatis. F loees Masc. Stamina 3, ereeto-patentia, ad
apicem pedicelli circa glandulam depressam disposita ; filamento crasso, tereti, curvato, cum antbera parva M. pntw-
tulato similLima continuo. F lores F oem. Omrium ut in præcedente sed disco epigyno manifesto, stylo paido
longiore pedicelloque brevi pubescente iustnictum. Fructus ovatus, disco apice concavo terminatus, trigonus,
obscure sulcatus, setis plumosis fructu sextuplo longioribus, pilis apice attenuatis. Columna seminifera latiuscula,
plana, compressa, paricti loculi appressa. Seìnen loculum implens, pendulum, globoso-ovoideum, 3^-sulcatum.
Alhimen carnosum ; embryo parte superiore albumiuis semi-immersus, membrana tenui cum fuuiculo continuo
inclusus ; extremitate radiculari ultra albumen exserta, dilatata, concava ; cotyledonari tereti, apice oblique truncata,
obscm*e emarginata, intus cava.
The important and conspicuous chai-acters that sepai-ate this and the following from the M. punetulatum, and
which have induced me to subdivide the genus, are, the absence of tubercles on the stem and branches, the ramuli
being foliaceous and not bracteate or scaly, the triandrous male flowers, the larger column in the ovarium, the
deeply sulcate albumen, and especially the structm-e of the stem, which differs so remai-kably in the two subgenera,
that no one, from au examination of their wood alone, would hesitate in pronouncing them to be plants nfldely
separated iu a Natm-al System.